


your nightmares follow you like a shadow (forever)

by kayteedancer



Series: November Challenge [1]
Category: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Alternate Universe - His Dark Materials Fusion, Gen, Nogitsune Stiles Stilinski, Post-Nogitsune Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 09:56:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12604012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayteedancer/pseuds/kayteedancer
Summary: In hindsight, Stiles really should’ve figured out something was wrong earlier.  Well, he knew he couldn’t read, that he couldn’t tell reality from a dream, that he had to wake up (wake up WAKE UP), but he didn’t notice Aggie.A world with dæmons, and the aftermath of the Nogitsune.





	your nightmares follow you like a shadow (forever)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I know it's... been a while. Grad school's been really busy, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of writing so I can work on (and eventually finish) my WIPs. So, instead of a novel for NaNoWriMo, I decided to challenge myself and do some type of drabble or short everyday in November. This is going up a little late for editing reasons, but here's the first installment! Wish me luck! And I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Title is a quote by Aleksandar Hemon.

In hindsight, Stiles really should’ve figured out something was wrong earlier.  Well, he knew he couldn’t read, that he couldn’t tell reality from a dream, that he had to wake up ( _wake up WAKE UP)_ , but he didn’t notice Aggie.

How he managed to not notice his Agnieszka, his rock, _the other half of his soul_ , is something that he will never forgive himself for.  But he was so wrapped up in his own head, deprived of sleep and slowly going insane, that he barely noticed Aggie fading, her edges turning soft and amorphous, glittering with golden Dust.

It started slowly.  Agnieszka (it was a difficult name to pronounce, but Stiles and his mom and her Wojciech could always pronounce it perfectly so it never bothered him.  When his mom died, Agnieszka decided for the both of them to be called Aggie, and the mixture of relief and heartbreak on his father’s and Rayla’s faces assured Stiles they made the right choice), sweet, personable, clever, _chatty_ Aggie slowly grew quieter and quieter, her once rambling thoughts and answers dwindling to short phrases, to single words, and finally to nothing at all.  Aggie and Stiles had always come with a wall of sound trailing them, a united front of jokes and sarcasm and observations that flitted from topic to topic but never could settle on just one thing.  But as Stiles grew more and more tired (more and more _crazy_ ), Aggie grew more and more silent, an oppressive cloud hovering over the two of them wherever they went.

He began to notice when their bond dwindled to such a short distance that he and Aggie became nigh on inseparable.  They had always been tactile, Aggie using her long, powerful legs to spring up for Stiles to catch, burrowing into his hood with her long ears popping out behind his head, but suddenly she shivered in his grasp, tucked into the front of his hoodie between the zipper and his chest with whiskers trembling, Stiles gripping the fabric around her (holding her, _protecting her_ ) with white knuckles covered in a fine sheen of golden Dust.

Stiles knew that there was something wrong with him (wake up _wake up_ _**WAKE UP** )_, with them, when he noticed Aggie blurring at the edges, her once shiny grey and black mottled fur turning dull and lifeless, the white of her legs fading into shimmering gold Dust, a trace of it left behind wherever they went.  Stiles just clutched her to him harder, grasped her tighter as she shivered, willing Aggie to not go, to be okay ( **WAKE UP WAKE UP _WAKE UP_** ) as Dust floated about them in lazy circles.

Discovering the Nogitsune would have almost been a relief (there’s a reason this is happening _HE’S NOT CRAZY_ ) if it wasn’t for the fact that Aggie was just… gone.

His other half, _his dæmon_ , was gone and the Nogitsune was parading around in his skin _killing_ people and causing _chaos_ , and Stiles screamed and cried within the prison of his own mind because how could Aggie be _gone_ , she _can’t_ be gone, _AGGIE, AGGIE, **AGGIE**_.

Then Stiles played Go with the Nogitsune, challenged him, and he was Stiles once more facing the Nogitsune still wearing his face, a Void Stiles.  But even back under his own power in his own body, Stiles felt incomplete, the place where Aggie should be a fiery wound singeing him from the inside out.  He was still alone.

Then Allison was stabbed, run through, and Stiles watched with Lydia and Atlas as Garan bled Dust and Allison bled scarlet.  He watched how, as Allison’s last breath escaped her lips, Garan’s feathered form burst into gold and blew away with the final air from her lungs.  Stiles felt tears slide down his cheeks, hot and sticky, and wished for Aggie with all of his might.

He felt something flutter in the space he knew he should feel her, should feel Aggie, and Stiles felt treacherous hope rise within him as he faced the Nogitsune for what he hoped would be the final time. 

Maybe he would find her again in the afterlife, Stiles mused as the Nogitsune came closer. He and Lydia and Atlas scrambled backwards as quickly as possible.  Aggie with his Mom and Wojciech and Allison and Garan; if that was what was waiting for him in death, then Stiles didn’t fear it.

But Scott and Iliana bit the Nogitsune and Stiles watched his own face but not-his-face morph in agony, in _rage_ , watched as it crumbled to pieces and the fly that housed the Nogitsune was captured and felt something within himself _tear_.  Stiles dropped to his knees, one hand clawing at his heart as pain washed over him, white-hot and terrible.  Suddenly, it stopped and Stiles felt it then.  A tug.  His head snapped up.

 _Aggie_.

Stiles felt a twinge of trepidation as he searched around him for Aggie’s white feet, her fluffy black tail, her massive ears, and anxiety rose up within him so abruptly Stiles nearly choked on it.

“Aggie,” he called hoarsely, trying to push himself up to stand.  Lydia came to his aid, Atlas fluttering about them.  “Aggie, where are you?”

“Stiles,” Lydia murmured. Stiles turned to look at the banshee, her gaze locked on something hidden just beyond the tree-line.  Stiles followed her gaze until his eyes caught two bright points of light within the shadows intently focused on him.

“Aggie, _please_ ,” Stiles begged, reaching a hand toward her weakly.

Aggie stepped out of the shadows gingerly, her red, pointed ears plastered flat to her skull.  Bright brown eyes shone out of her face just above her elongated snout and her sharp teeth glinted in the half-light.  Her bottle-brush tail was fluffed up with anxiety, and Stiles let out a sob as his knees gave out beneath him.

“A fox,” Lydia’s breath hitched and Atlas let out a piercing keen.  Stiles knew that his friends, _his pack_ , were probably wolfing out again, but he only had eyes for his dæmon.

“A Japanese red fox,” Kira corrected, her Teiji bristling with anxiety and fear.

“Aggie, _Aggie_ ,” Stiles whispered, never once breaking her gaze.

“Ksenia, Stiles.  Call me Ksenia,” she murmured and Stiles felt a smile twist his lips even as tears streamed from his eyes.

“Ksenia,” he stated and the joy and sorrow that lit her eyes spoke volumes.  He opened his arms to her and she sprinted into them, colliding with his chest and knocking the wind out of him.  “Ksenia, Ksenia, _Ksenia_ ,” he gasped into her fur and clutched her to him as she began to sob in his arms.

Ksenia.  Stranger, _foreigner_.  Ksenia and Stiles.  Stiles and Ksenia.  As she buried her nose in his neck, Stiles couldn’t help the laughter that spilled from his lips.  They were going to be fine (wake up _wake up_ _**WAKE UP** )._

 

* * *

Stiles & Agnieszka/Ksenia: Black-tailed Jackrabbit --> Japanese Red Fox

Claudia & Wojciech: Maine Coon

Sheriff (Noah) & Rayla: Belgian Malinois

Scott & Iliana: Golden Retriever

Allison & Garan: Gyrfalcon

Lydia & Atlas: Peacock

Kira & Teiji: Sable

 


End file.
